title: Changes in esculeoside A content in different regions of the tomato fruit during maturation and heat processing.
abstract: We previously demonstrated that esculeogenin A, a new aglycone of the tomato sapogenol esculeoside A, inhibits both acyl coenzyme A:cholesterol acyl-transferase (ACAT)-1 and -2 and ameliorates the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in apoE deficient mice. Although we believe that daily intake of esculeoside A from tomato products can play a beneficial role in preventing the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, the compound is not being used for preventive medicine due to the lack of information on methods for quantitative analysis and the content and stability of the compound in tomato products. In the present study, we report the development of a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method using an instrument equipped with a refractive index (RI) detector for esculeoside A quantification. We used this method to measure the changes in esculeoside A content during maturation, its distribution in the fruit body, and its stability during the heating process. The contents of esculeoside A in cherry tomatoes and Momotaro tomatoes were 21- and 9-fold, respectively, higher than that of lycopene, which is the most well-known compound in tomatoes. Furthermore, the esculeoside A content in pericarp wall was higher than in the whole tomato fruit and increased in a time-dependent manner during maturation. Although the melting point of purified esculeoside A was 225 °C, the esculeoside A in crude tomato extract decreased in a temperature-dependent manner. Degradation due to the heating process was inhibited under a pH of 9. These results demonstrated that the esculeoside A content differs in the various types of tomatoes, during maturation, and during the heating process used for preservation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Laboratory of Biochemistry and Nutritional Science, Japan Women's University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katsumata
authors.forename: Mizuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saigo
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aburaya
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Ryoji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nagai
mesh_terms: D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006358:Hot Temperature; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012031:Refractometry; D012502:Sapogenins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012502:Sapogenins; C530544:esculeoside A